Abstract
The idea of mimesis in art theory has been neglected by Byzantine scholars. Reasons for this may lie in the fact that the understanding of the term in Byzantium was very complex and that it changed over time. In the Early Byzantine period and the so-called Macedonian Renaissance, a tendency to use tonal modelling, which was inherited from ancient Greco-Roman art, can still be observed. Starting in the late tenth century they give way to a more linear style. Simultaneously, a change in the understanding of mimesis in theological writings can also be observed. The aim of this paper is to introduce the problem of a mimetic approach in visual arts as a phenomenon in Byzantine culture.
Highlights
The idea of mimesis in art theory has been neglected by Byz- art historians are either focused on the relationship beantine scholars
The concept of mimesis as a phenomenon in Byzdemonstrated that influences operated in both directions: while ceremonies such as the Triumphal Entry were modelled after iconography, the imagery on the works of pilgrimage art, such as ampullae, tokens and jewellery, diverges from the Gospel account of the event in favour of a setting known to travellers from their own experience and popular beliefs.[3]
An earlier version of this paper was presented at The Second Cracow Symposium on Byzantine Art and Archaeology, September tic churches and scenes chosen to decorate them in the katholika of Hosios Loukas, Nea Moni and
Summary
23 Carminis de viribus herbarum fragmentum, in: Die griefar: Dioscurides: Codex Aniciae Iulianae picturis illustratus, nunc Vin- chischen Dichterfragmente der römischen Kaiserzeit, ed. Z 479, produced in a Constantinopolitan scriptorium around 1060, is the oldest and the only known illustrated Byzantine copy of the text.[41] the majority of modern scholars agree that the miniatures generally follow a lost antique model, arguing, on the one hand, that the original must have had illuminations because the text would not have been fully understandable without them,[42] and, on the other, that minor discrepancies in narration indicate that the artists relied on an earlier set of images.[43] While the problem of earlier sources will probably remain and Hellenism: A Note on Stylistic Tendencies in Byzantine Figurative Art from Spätantike to the Macedonian “Renaissance”, REB 42 (1984)
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